Sensex falls over 200 points, Nifty opens around 9,050

Indian benchmark indices opened in the red on Monday (April 13) with the Sensex plunging 216.69 points or 0.70% at 30942.93, and the Nifty falling 54.75 points or 0.60% at 9057.15. About 836 shares have advanced, 394 shares declined, and 73 shares are unchanged.

Benchmark indices traded flat in the pre-opening session with the Sensex advacing 36.10 points or 0.12% at 31195.72, and the Nifty down 5.20 points or 0.06% at 9106.70.

On Thursday, the equity benchmark indices ended higher amid hopes of another stimulus package from the government in the coming days. The Sensex closed up 1,265.66 points or 4.23% at 31159.62, while the broader Nifty also ended up 363.15 points or 4.15% at 9,111.90. Major gainers on the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Cipla, Tata Motors and Titan Company while HUL, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Lab, and IndusInd Bank were the top laggards.

Tata Motors was up by 9.9 per cent to Rs 74.35 per share while metal majors JSW Steel and Vedanta gained by 8 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively.The other prominent winners were Hero MotoCorp, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC and GAIL. However, Hindustan Lever was down by 1.6 per cent.